China-Myanmar JV company -- Union Resources and Engineering Company limited (UREC) laid a cornerstone to start building a 106 megawatt (MW) Thaketa gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Yangon on Thursday.
The plant, about 10 kilometer from Yangon and 16 kilometer from Thilawa Special Economic Zone, is the largest power plant in Myanmar as well as the fifth private run in Yangon, U Htein Lwin, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy said at the cornerstone laying ceremony.
The 106 MW project is the first phase of the about 500 MW's joint venture project named U Energy Thaketa Power Co Ltd established by the department of electric power management of Myanmar and UREC and will be operated under build-operate-transfer (BOT) system. The construction period for the 106 MW plant is set for two years and power production is expected to start in March 2018.
According to the agreement, the company will operate the plant for 30 years with 20 million cubic feet of gas to be supplied per day from Zawtika offshore gas field, sad U Htein Lwin.
After completion of the project of 500 MW plant, it will meet Yangon's power demand of 720 million kW annually, according to the company.
The power consumption of Yangon region, which constitutes half of the country's total, stands high annually and is expected to reach about 1250 MW in this 2016-2017 fiscal year compared with the fiscal year 2011-2012 when the figure was 690 MW. At present, the total production of the power plants in Yangon cannot meet the demand as the four state-owned power plants in the commercial city had been used for 20 years, U Htein Lwin added.
Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang said that China stands top in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up and lay emphasis on the development of Myanmar's power sector.
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